Finally-- a post that should offend just about everyone! This week's cover story in New York Magazine tackles one of the most pressing questions of our day: are Jews smarter than everyone else, and if so, by how much?. The original title of the article was "One more reason to hate the Jews", but apparently the far blander "Are Jews Smarter?" won out. The article goes on to make a fairly dispassionate argument-- presenting and then debunking some recent scientific studies that connect Ashkenazi genes to higher intelligence. An excerpt:
The world’s proliferation of Einsteins—well, maybe not Einsteins exactly, but distinguished Jewish thinkers, particularly in math and the sciences—form the stark, quantifiable basis for Cochran and Harpending’s hypothesis. Though Jews make up a mere 0.25 percent of the world’s population and a mere 3 percent of the United States’, they account, according to their paper, for 27 percent of all American Nobel Prize winners, 25 percent of all ACM Turing Award winners for computer science, and 50 percent of the globe’s chess champions.
There was a similar piece in the the NY Times Styles' section this weekend-- a feature on two Korean women who wrote the book, Top of the Class: How Asian Parents Raise High Achievers--and How You Can Too. Did all the editors in New York go to a conference on stereotypes last week? Because we weren't invited-- and you know Gothamist likes to get our stereotypes on as frequently as possible. Anyway, in the spirit of playing along, we've come up with a list of story ideas for our friends at the local magazines-- feel free to add your own in the comments!
Who is cheaper: Asians or Jews?
Who is more drunk: WASPs or the Irish?
Who dances better: Blacks or Hispanics?
Bonus question for TMFTML-- who is more buff: Park Slope Lesbians or Chelsea Boys? [Related, via Gawker: Love Southpark, Maybe You're Gay]
